Arsenal vs Southampton Preview

Premier League leaders Arsenal will look to get back to winning ways when they welcome bottom-of-the-table Southampton to the Emirates Stadium this Friday.

The Gunners have endured two poor results this past week with back-to-back 2-2 draws with Liverpool and West Ham cutting their lead at the top to four points.

Both draws came after the Gunners went two goals up early in the game, potentially showing a lack of spine among the Gunners squad.

This clash with Southampton is the ideal fixture to get back to winning ways ahead of their crunch contest with Manchester City next week. Not only have Mikel Arteta’s men won each of their seven home games so far against current bottom-half opponents, but they also scored a remarkable 27 combined goals in those games while conceding only seven in reply.

The Gunners’ run of nine league games without defeat since mid-February (W7, D2) also makes them the clear favourites to win this game.

Meanwhile, apart from their place at the bottom of the table, Southampton have not beaten Arsenal away from home in their last 27 head-to-head meetings.

They have another top-six mountain to climb after recently facing Manchester City and Tottenham. Although they snatched a point from Tottenham (2-2 draw), they fell to a 4-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side.

Their most recent 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace means they are winless in their last six matches. They also come into this round sitting four points from safety, despite the tight nature of this year’s relegation fight.

They have been rooted to the bottom of the table for the past five weeks and must begin picking up maximum points if they want to survive with just seven games left to play.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

Premier League Table